The Ministry of Digital Transformation will need to find a new donor to replace the American USAID, which is halting funding for projects in Ukraine for at least three months. The agency has provided funds for projects ranging from the development of "Diia" to the strategy for regulating artificial intelligence. This was reported by Forbes Ukraine.

According to two former ministry employees who spoke to the publication anonymously due to the sensitivity of the issue, the American fund USAID is one of the largest donors to the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

It is noted that the ministry received at least $40.5 million from USAID, while from the EU it received nearly four times less. The Ministry of Digital Transformation obtained $11.5 million from the EU for four programs. The budgets for five other programs have not been specified. The ministry's projects are also funded by Germany and Sweden.

As of the end of 2023, the most active donors to the Ministry of Digital Transformation were: the American fund USAID, the European Union, the German BMZ, and the Swedish SIDA. Overall, the ministry received $63.3 million from them across 9 out of 18 projects.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation declined to specify what percentage of projects is funded by USAID until negotiations with the agency are completed. However, according to Forbes Ukraine's calculations, in 2023, the agency's share of funding for nine projects of the ministry reached 64%.

In total, the publication identified at least 30 services, platforms, and products launched by the Ministry of Digital Transformation with the support of USAID. In particular, these include services like "eExcise," "eReservation," "eRecovery," the project on AI regulation, and others.

The report also mentions projects like "Support for Organizations Leading Anti-Corruption Efforts in Ukraine (VzaemoDiia)" and "Cybersecurity of Ukraine's Critical Infrastructure." However, the funding amounts for these projects are not provided in the documents.

Additionally, the Ukrainian govtech company Strimco received an official order on January 24 to halt contracts under which it was working on several projects, including the Registry of Losses Inflicted by Russia. This project was funded by USAID on behalf of the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation will be seeking another donor to replace USAID, a ministry official told Forbes Ukraine.

"There won’t be a disaster," he assures.

At the same time, an anonymous official from the Ministry of Digital Transformation told the publication:

"It's hard to say where exactly we will find funding. We will figure it out."

Assistance from USAID - What We Know

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was run by a "bunch of radical lunatics." According to him, a decision regarding the future of this structure will be made soon.

On February 3, billionaire Elon Musk, who is responsible for government efficiency (DOGE) in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, announced that they are working on shutting down the American agency for foreign aid, USAID, as he claimed that the agency "is beyond repair."

On February 4, it became known that President Donald Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development USAID.